Agency Report
A few days after celebrating 100 days to go until the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the outcome of the most recent tickets sales period has now been confirmed.
The FIFA Media Office, in a statement on Monday, said 568,448 tickets allocated following the second random selection draw sales window from Dec. 5 to Jan. 31.
“This is on top of the 735,168 tickets allocated during the first sales phase. Of course, this number was after the conclusion of the payment process.
“This makes a total of 1,303,616 tickets allocated since the start of ticket sales in September 2017,’’ it said.
FIFA Media Office said many matches and ticket products were highly oversubscribed, adding that this again required a random selection draw for ticket allocation.
“Following this procedure, carried out in the presence of a public notary, 568,448 tickets were allocated (subject to payment) to the lucky fans worldwide.
“Most of them are going to Russian fans (197,832) followed by fans from Colombia (33,048), Brazil (24,656), Peru (21,946), Germany (21,639), USA (20,347), Mexico (18,155), Australia (15,906), Argentina (15.214), England (14,890) and Poland (13,686).
“These are the top 10 countries from abroad,’’ the report said.
It disclosed that the number of tickets allocated overall to international customers during the second random selection sales window accounts for 65 percent.
“With only 94 days left until the FIFA World Cup opening match, we continue to be very happy with the outcome of ticket sales.
“The huge demand by both local and international fans highlights the great sense of anticipation and excitement that Russia 2018 is sparking around the world,” FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura was quoted as saying by the report.
FIFA Head of Ticketing Falk Eller also commented: “Such a great interest obviously caused many matches to be fully overbooked.
“But we have set up a transparent and fair process of ticket allocation based on a random selection draw procedure, which ensures that each and every application has an equal chance of being successful.
“However, fans who were not so lucky can still be part of the FIFA World Cup in Russia as sales restart on Tuesday.”
The FIFA Media Office disclosed that the next opportunity to purchase tickets would commence on Tuesday at 1200 hours Moscow time on a first-come, first-served basis.
“This means that fans will be able to purchase tickets in real time (subject to availability) after successful payment. Tickets for all matches except match 7 (Argentina – Iceland) and the final will be available.
“This includes category 4 tickets for selected matches, which are exclusively reserved for Russian residents.
“Fans are advised to place their order as soon as the sales period opens, as high demand is expected and tickets are likely to sell out very quickly.
A traffic light system available on FIFA.com/tickets will give fans an indication about availability.
Tickets purchased during sales phases 1 and 2 will be delivered free of charge to fans in the weeks leading up to the tournament, with deliveries planned to start in April/May 2018.